Nursing is a passion?

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 29, 2016

Nursing is what I do. It is not who I am.

Palliative Care, DNP · Jan 29, 2016

My passion is feeding my kids, keeping clothes on them, and a roof over our heads.

Libby1987 · Jan 29, 2016

Home health is a passion of mine and a large part of who I am. Like another trade say a veterinarian who might be passionate about their work, I enjoy much of it and it supports me and my kids.

I consider myself fortunate to love what I do as well as having great work relationships.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Jan 29, 2016

I'm a midwife, and it is central to my identity. I could never do anything else.

The problem with calling it a "passion" or a "calling," is that it makes it easier to justify lower wages or crappy work environments, because we somehow get a deeper satisfaction from our jobs that cannot be measured in compensation. Or something. Most female dominated fields have the same talking points, and we internalize it far more than we realize. Teachers, child care professionals, social workers, nurses- all are supposedly professions that are driven by a calling to serve. All are underpaid grossly (nurses less so than the others I listed).

When I was in CPM school way back in the day, we actually had a lecture on midwifery as a calling, and like, bartering our services for homemade quilts and the like, and the deep spiritual fulfillment of doing so. I am all for pro bono work, but I am not about to pretend my skills can be fairly compensated by a basket of your backyard eggs and your undying gratitude. Please. I can extend my services to those in need without the patronizing idea that I should be *grateful* that I have the opportunity to work for free because of my passion. Nope.

I do feel blessed and profoundly grateful every day, because I love my job to a ridiculous degree. But if I wasn't fairly compensated and afforded a supportive and pleasant work environment, no amount of passion would make it worthwhile.

Cola89 · Jan 29, 2016

You should show compassion for others in probably any job, but especially in a job where you see a lot of people who are having a VERY bad day, or difficult time in their life. I think that the school might be trying to convey that the money, albeit decent, doesn't fully compensate for your efforts in a way. A better way to think of it is that you have to really, really want to be a nurse. Be driven to do it for long lasting success in most cases.

Hollybobs · Jan 29, 2016

I don't think it has to be a passion for people, I've worked with amazing nurses who are there for the pay check only. I personally have to have passion to do my job or I wouldn't enjoy it. If there wasn't a huge slice of job satisfaction every month (in addition to my pay check!) then the stress and challenge wouldn't be worth it overall.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 29, 2016

I am aware of this being a touchy topic on AN, but my school has a nursing information session and within the session they state that nursing is more than just a steady income, it is a passion. You need to be passionate and able to set aside your problems to help somebody in "what could be the worst day of their life." Thoughts?

Being competent is far more important than being passionate. Being competent is necessary. Passionate -- not so much.

ED Nurse, RN · Jan 29, 2016

I offer a different perspective- I feel bad for those who have not been able to feel 100% fulfillment, commitment, and satisfaction in nursing. When I deployed to Afghanistan, and I took care of wounded troops, sometimes risking my own safety, it was almost a sense of nirvana in a complete hell on earth. To this day, I forever chase that sense of fulfillment and purpose- I come close somedays as an ER nurse, but not like I did during the time period at war. I made a difference, a visible difference, in the lives of those men and women. Their seance of thankfulness and appreciation was also a huge part of the purpose I felt.

Bbrown36 · Jan 29, 2016

I Nursing is my passion. I love it !!!!

It's my dream...

joanna73, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2016

My fulfillment and purpose does not revolve around nursing, or any job for that matter. That's just me.

If I could afford it, I'd start a consulting business and travel full time.

Simonesays, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2016

Yeah- I agree with what most of the other posters have said. You don't have to be passionate about nursing to be a good nurse. However, I feel pretty lucky to be passionate about nursing. This is not to say that nursing is my sole interest, but I definitely love what I do. Well, most days at least...

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jan 29, 2016

You should show compassion for others in probably any job, but especially in a job where you see a lot of people who are having a VERY bad day, or difficult time in their life. I think that the school might be trying to convey that the money, albeit decent, doesn't fully compensate for your efforts in a way. A better way to think of it is that you have to really, really want to be a nurse. Be driven to do it for long lasting success in most cases.

That's a good point...however I think passion is nebulous to a point. Sometimes stating you have to enjoy some aspects of this business for long lasting success would be more apt.

Being competent is far more important than being passionate. Being competent is necessary. Passionate -- not so much.

^I can identify with this. I enjoy being competent in what I do; over my ten years of nursing, I have always have the goal to be competent, to have expertise and knowledge about what I do, or an aspect of it; I enjoy competency career wise over passion-although I can say a lot of my travels in life as a nurse have impacted me in some way.

My passions are painting, writing, and traveling; I self-taught myself to knit, so I hope that is something I can be passionate about too.